


A Heart Is a Terrible Thing to Break

by FranzHopper



Category: Miraculous Ladybug
Genre: Adrien has to get over Ladybug, Dubious Chemistry homework, F/M, Love Confessions, Male-Female Friendship, Marinette helps him, Rejection, Unrequited Love, evolving into something more
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2017-07-27
Updated: 2018-02-13
Packaged: 2018-12-07 16:06:45
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 3
Words: 9,910
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/11627052
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/FranzHopper/pseuds/FranzHopper
Summary: Chat Noir finally confesses his love to Ladybug, only to find out that she already has a crush on someone else. Now Marinette has to take care of a heartbroken Adrien until Nino comes back from his family trip.





	1. I Needed to Tell You

This was it. This was the day he’d been waiting for.

Adrien was standing in front of his bathroom mirror, making sure he looked his very best for the occasion. He considered putting some more gel on his hair to keep it in order, then remembered that his hair would still wind up in its usual disarray after the transformation. Shrugging the thought off, he cupped his hands over his mouth and huffed slightly, cringing as he did. _A breath mint wouldn’t hurt_ , he thought.

“Relax, kiddo,” said Plagg, floating into the bathroom, a piece of Camembert in his paws. “It’s not like you’re going to propose to her or something.”

The boy just shook his head, heading back to his room to rummage through his desk drawer. “You just don’t get it, do you? If I’m going to confess my feelings for her, I need to look – _and_ smell – my absolute best.”

“Oh, because the way you look will definitely affect her answer.” Plagg replied, heavy sarcasm evident in his voice.

Adrien glared at the kwami, then resumed looking through the drawer. Finally, he let out a cry of triumph, holding up a small tin of peppermints in his hand. Sighing with relief, he put one of the little white orbs in his mouth.

“So much better,” he said after a while.

Plagg shook his head at his young charge. “I don’t get you humans and your creepy hormones. Cheese is so much easier,” he announced, putting the piece of Camembert in his mouth. “And, may I add, much more satisfying,” he moaned with pleasure.

“Get a room,” the boy responded, smirking despite himself at the cheese-loving kwami’s antics.

His smile soon dissolved into a much more serious expression as he approached the little coffee table next to his couch, checking if the red rose and the tiny gift-wrapped jewelry box were still in place. He glanced at the Ladybug poster hanging in the corner – a recent addition to the room’s décor – and felt himself give in to the nervousness. _What if I somehow screw it up? What if I make a fool of myself? Why is it so hard?_

“Hey,” Plagg said, the rare note of seriousness and compassion in his voice startling Adrien. “You can do this, Adrien. You’re Chat Noir, the protector of Paris. You fight akuma on a daily basis and look danger in the eye all the time. You can definitely pluck up the courage to tell the girl you like how you feel.”

Adrien smiled with gratitude. Who would’ve thought? Despite all the teasing and constant complaints about the boy getting ‘all lovey-dovey’ over Ladybug, his kwami actually cared deeply for him.

“Thanks, Plagg.”

“Don’t mention it. Now, if you don’t mind, I think we have somewhere else we need to be, don’t we?” he added meaningfully.

Adrien looked at his kwami, a gleam of newfound confidence in his eyes. “Yeah, we do!”

“That’s the spirit!” Plagg did a small somersault in the air, glad to have been able to help his charge out in his moment of hesitation. “You know the words.”

Adrien smirked at that, stretching out his right hand – his ring hand.

“Plagg, claws out!”

* * *

“Marinette, if you’re so nervous about being late, why don’t you just leave already?”

The girl flinched at her kwami’s words. She had only just realized that she had been looking at her clock _again_ , for what must have been the fourth time in the last half-hour.

“I’m sure Chat Noir wouldn’t mind if you turned up a little early,” Tikki continued, but Marinette shook her head.

“I need to finish my Chemistry homework first, it’s due tomorrow. I don’t know what Chat wants to talk about or how much time this is going to take, so I think it’s better to take care of everything before I leave,” she rationalized. “Besides, I’m almost done anyway,” she added, circling the answer to yet another question.

“Are you sure you’re alright, Marinette?” the kwami inquired.

“Yeah, Tikki,” she responded softly. “I’m just a bit nervous… It’s just that I… I can’t help but wonder… Why did Chat want to meet me in the first place?”

* * *

_After the last akuma attack, Ladybug raised her fist as always, ready for the usual fist bump with her partner, only for him to grab her hand instead._

_“Ladybug,” he said, an unusually serious expression on his face. “There is something important I need to tell you.”_

_He must have seen her glance at her earrings, as he hurried to add, “And I realize that you have to leave, like, right now, but I was wondering if we could, maybe, um… meet up on the roof of the Notre Dame at ten p.m. tomorrow night?”_

_She hesitated before nodding, then, just as she was about to ask about the reason for his sudden request, he dropped her hand and left, using his baton as a polearm to get on the rooftop of a nearby building._

_“Chat?” she uttered in surprise, but he seemed not to notice._

_“Notre Dame, tomorrow night, at ten p.m.” he repeated, glancing over his shoulder. “I’ll see you there.”_

_And then, just like that, he was gone._

_She wanted to follow him at first, but another beep from her Miraculous reminded her that she should be looking for a safe place to detransform. Letting out a sigh of confusion, she threw her yo-yo at a nearby lamppost and headed back to her parents’ bakery._

* * *

“Frankly, I have no idea,” Tikki admitted. “Perhaps he has found out something important about Hawkmoth?”

Marinette considered the possibility for a moment. That thought hadn’t occurred to her.

“You think so? I was thinking more along the lines of _I have to leave Paris for a few days_ or _Someone figured out my secret identity_. You know, that sort of problem.” She sighed. “I just hope he doesn’t want to convince me to reveal our identities. I’ve told him enough times that I just don’t feel ready.”

Tikki hugged her shoulder comfortingly.

“Ugh. There’s simply too many possibilities, Tikki,” Marinette uttered, the frustration clear in her voice.

“Well, there’s only one way to find out for sure what he wants to tell you,” the little kwami giggled, and after a moment, Marinette joined in on the laughter.

“You’re right as usual, Tikki. How is it that you are so wise?” the girl asked, zipping up her pencil case and putting her Chemistry notebook back in her backpack.

The kwami shrugged, humbly looking down. “I don’t know if I’m wise. But having several thousand years of experience does help one give out good advice.”

Marinette giggled again. “Well, I can’t argue with that.” She opened a window overviewing the balcony. “Shall we?”

Tikki beamed at her. “Just say the words, Marinette.”

“Tikki, spots on!”

* * *

Chat Noir was perched on one of the towers of the Notre-Dame Cathedral, taking in the peaceful sight of citizens of Paris walking along the street below in the bright light of the lanterns. The weather was remarkably nice, with few clouds obscuring the otherwise clear sky. It was the end of August, so although the sun had already set a little over an hour ago, hundreds of people were still buzzing about, reluctant to leave the pleasant company of their friends or significant others.

Adrien spent a moment following the sight of a young couple – in their late teens, or perhaps even early twenties, it was difficult to be sure from so high above – walking through the nearby park, fingers intertwined, her head resting slightly on his shoulder. Although he would never admit it out loud, he felt a tad bit jealous of the affection they showed towards one another – he had never been in a relationship with anyone before, and with his mother’s unexplained disappearance and his father’s cold professionalism, not to mention his lack of real friends (apart from Nino, but that was a fairly recent development), he wasn’t really used to having anyone truly care about him. Well, perhaps this would change after tonight.

He watched as a group of teenagers entered a nearby cafeteria, laughing along the way, and thought about Nino – his first true friend and only confidant was currently on holiday in Barcelona, visiting his aunt and uncle, and Adrien truly missed him. They still texted from time to time, but it simply wasn’t the same.

So engrossed was Adrien in his thoughts that he hadn’t noticed when Ladybug arrived at the rooftop. She hadn’t noticed him at first, as he remained immobile and was virtually invisible against the dark silhouette of the cathedral tower. However, the slightly nervous swinging of his tail was enough to give away his presence.

Unwilling to spend the entire night on the roof of the famous cathedral and curious about whatever it was that made Cat so nervous, Marinette cleared her throat to attract her silly kitty’s attention.

Which caused Adrien to yelp in surprise and almost fall of the tower.

“ _Meow_ -ch,” he complained, slipping in a cat pun almost automatically. “What did you do that for?”

Marinette fought hard to swallow her giggling. “I’m sorry, but I’m surprised I actually managed to startle you. I was under the impression that you were the one with the better hearing – what with that cat ears and all,” she smirked.

She half expected him to respond with a playful jab, or brag about his cat senses, or at least tell a pun. Instead, he stood up awkwardly, embarrassment clear on his face.

“I’m sorry…” he said, rubbing the back of his neck in an oddly familiar gesture. “I guess I was… lost in thought.”

If Marinette felt worried before, it was nothing compared to what she felt right now. This response was definitely unlike Chat, and she had to know the reason for her partner’s anxiety.

“What is it, Chat?” she asked hesitantly. “What did you want to talk about?”

Instead of answering right away, Chat cleared his throat, not meeting her gaze, then extended his right hand – the one he had kept behind his back, hidden from Ladybug’s sight until now – and revealed a dark red rose. With a sudden gleam of determination in his eyes, Chat began to speak.

“Ladybug, the end of August is fast approaching, and with it the end of our second year of fighting Akumas together. A little less than two years ago, a lot of things changed in my life. Getting the Cat Miraculous, meeting Plagg, forming wonderful friendships at school,” he added as an afterthought, thinking about Nino and Marinette, “those things took quite an impact on my life.” He cleared his throat again.

“And yet, the person who changed my life the most was the girl who had literally fallen from the sky two years ago. The girl who had the courage to challenge Hawkmoth, to face down villain after villain, never losing her faith in victory, even for a moment. The girl who sacrificed herself for the good of Paris, to protect the innocent citizens. The girl who became my partner, the yin to my yang. The girl who captures and purifies akumas, and the one who captured my heart all those years ago.” His voice cracked at that, but he forced himself to go on.

“Ladybug, I don’t know if you feel the same way, but I felt that I needed to tell you. I have loved you for almost two years now. When I’m with you, I feel… happy. So much happier than I’ve felt in a long time.”

At this point, he put his left hand in the pocket of his suit and took out a tiny jewelry box. He opened it and Marinette couldn’t help but let out a gasp at the sight of an exquisite silver necklace.

“I need to know. Will you go out with me?”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Coming up next: Chat Noir has his heart broken. Terribly.
> 
> I know that's cruel and all, but trust me, it's for a good cause. He'll get better.


	2. She Likes Someone Else

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> It took much more time for me to publish Chapter 2 than I would have liked. I've recently moved to another city, and I had quite a lot of organizational stuff on my head. Anyways, here's the second chapter. I hope you like it.

Marinette – or rather, Ladybug – was at a loss for words.

After Chat Noir had first mentioned he wanted them to meet at the roof of the Norte Dame Cathedral, she went through hundreds of possible scenarios in her head, trying to predict what it was that had made him so anxious. Her partner’s unusually serious demeanor worried her, and she wanted to prepare herself for whatever it was that he wanted to tell her. She played around with the thought of him struggling to keep his identity safe from friends and family, or perhaps discovering something that would allow them to fight Hawkmoth more effectively, amongst countless other potential dilemmas.

Never once did she consider the possibility of her partner declaring his love to her.

And even as Chat stood in front of her with a silver necklace in his outstretched hand, a self-conscious smile on his face and a slightly nervous gleam in his eyes, she still couldn’t really believe it.

_It’s impossible_ , she thought. _It’s plain impossible that he’s been in love with me for the past two years. I mean, I would have noticed, wouldn’t I? Well, true, he did say his share of cheesy pick-up lines, but he couldn’t possibly have…_ She groaned inwardly as realization hit her like a brick. _Oh gosh, that’s it, isn’t it? He really meant it all the time and I thought he was just being a flirt. And all these times he jumped in front of me to protect me from an Akuma..._ She recalled how white in the face Chat had been when she emerged from Animan’s jaws all this time ago. How anxious he had seemed to tell her something on Valentine’s Day almost two year ago. She wondered how she had never seen it before. _Oh no. No no no no no no. No._

As Chat continued to stand there in silence, his smile growing more nervous with every passing second, she realized that she should probably give him an answer.

“Chat, I… I don’t know what to say…” she started, then hesitated.

Of course, the problem was that she couldn’t possibly give him the answer he was hoping for.

Marinette would be the first to admit that she doubted a lot of aspects of herself. She had questioned her competence as Ladybug when she fought Stoneheart almost two years ago. She had lacked confidence in her organizational skills when running for class president for the first time. Because of her clumsiness, she felt uneasy whenever she was trusted with fragile objects, like Alix’s watch (even after all this time, she shuddered at the memory of Timebreaker, one of the worst Akumas she’d had to fight so far). And she doubted she was a good friend to Alya whenever the young reporter went on a rant about how much she wanted to find out Ladybug’s identity.

The one thing she never called into question, however, was that she was in love with Adrien Agreste. And although Chat Noir was a wonderful partner and a good friend, her heart was already taken, and had been for the last two years.

Dreading what was about to come, Marinette took a deep breath and continued.

“I… I don’t really like you that way.”

Her heart clenched when she saw the pained expression on his face and she was tempted to just leave it at that, but she knew that Chat deserved to know the whole truth. She dropped her gaze, not meeting his eyes, and went on.

“I’m actually… kind of in love with someone else? He’s a guy from my class, he’s smart and kind and considerate and…” _What the heck, Marinette?_ she chided herself mentally. _You’re supposed to comfort him, not gush about your crush._ She cleared her throat to continue.

“And you… you are…”

“It’s okay, Ladybug,” Chat suddenly interrupted. His throat was sore, and as Marinette looked up, she realized that he was probably trying to restrain himself from crying. “I get it. He’s smart and thoughtful and I’m just a fool who can’t stop throwing puns around and gets possessed by Akumas and causes trouble all the time. You couldn’t possibly be interested in me.”

“No, I didn’t mean…” she tried to say, but he cut her off again.

“It’s okay, really.” He was clearly losing his composure, and his words were becoming harder to make out. “I wish you all the best with the guy. I hope the two of you are happy together.” Before Marinette realized what he was about to do, he already turned around and leaped to the roof of a nearby building, using his baton as a pole.

“Chat, wait! Come back!” she yelled after him. _Way to go, Marinette_ , she thought bitterly. She considered going after him, but he was already too far away. The sun had already set, and he was the one with the better night vision out of the two. Besides, she heard a beep from her Miraculous signaling that she should probably start heading home. She turned around with a heavy sigh.

She was about to leave the roof when a blink of metal caught her eye. With a start, she realized that Chat had dropped the necklace and it landed in a trough on the edge of the tower.

Deciding to give the piece of jewelry back to her partner whenever they saw each other again – _assuming he would ever want to see me again, that is_ – she picked it up. She noticed that the design was simple yet elegant – a single-strand princess-length necklace with a heart-shaped pendant the size of a 5 eurocent coin. There was a small engraving on the pendant, and her heart clenched again when she made out the words in the fancy font.

The engraving said “To My Lady, The Love of My Life”.

“Oh, Chat,” she whispered into the night.

* * *

Adrien could never recall exactly how much time he spent running around the rooftops of Paris that night. It could have been twenty minutes, an hour and a half, perhaps even two hours. Honestly, it felt like centuries. He didn’t stop when he could no longer hear Ladybug’s pleas for him to come back. He didn’t stop as the beautifully lighted streets of Île de la Cité gave way to less illuminated districts further away from the city center. He didn’t know where he was going, as tears welled up in his eyes and blurred his vision, but he didn’t care. He didn’t care about anything, really.

_How could I ever think that she could care about me?_ Adrien thought bitterly. _She probably only sees me as a huge dork, and honestly, if that’s the case, would she even be wrong?_

He thought back to his first day of school, when the entire class, including Nino and Marinette, were distrustful of him when they found out he had been Chloe’s childhood friend. He thought he felt bad back then, but right now was a lot worse.

The class eventually accepted him, but only as the silent, studious boy his father always expected him to be, the shy model with a busy schedule who knew enough historical trivia to bore someone to death and sometimes gave his classmates a helpful hand in Physics. They accepted the reserved persona that he was forced to assume lest his father deems public school a “bad influence” and decides to have him home-schooled again.

Now, however, the person being rejected wasn’t Adrien, but Chat Noir, who was everything Adrien had ever wanted to be. And Ladybug, the most accepting and understanding person he had ever known apart from his missing mother, didn’t even give him a chance.

Her words replayed in his head, each one hurting like a dagger ripping through his heart.

_‘I don’t really like you that way.’_

_‘He’s smart and kind and considerate… And you… You are…’_

Finally, he was forced to stop as rain started falling from the sky, making the roofs far too slippery to run on. He used his baton to get back on the streets, sought out an empty alleyway and detransformed.

For once, Plagg didn’t say anything. He didn’t make fun of him, demand cheese or even chastise his charge for running around in the rain. He just gave him a morbid, reassuring nod, then hid within the dry, comfortable confines of his coat. For that, Adrien was grateful.

The boy left the alleyway and called a taxi to go home for the rest of the night, although he reckoned he might not get a lot of sleep anyway.

_‘He’s smart and kind and considerate. And you... You are…’_

* * *

“Tikki, what have I done?” Marinette asked her kwami for what must have been the fourth time, pacing around her bedroom and pulling the ends of her pigtails in a nervous tick. She kept her voice down so that she wouldn’t wake her parents – they probably wouldn’t like her staying up so late the night before the first day of the new school year.

“Don’t stress yourself out like that, Marinette,” her kwami said reassuringly from the chaise longue, where she was sitting next to a half-empty platter of chocolate chip cookies.

“How can I, Tikki? I screwed up so badly. I mean, look at this,” she pointed to the silver necklace, which was now lying on top of her desk, wrapped in a pink handkerchief. “He had it engraved, Tikki! He must have planned all this at least a week in advance. And instead of comforting him somehow, I just went on about my crush on Adrien.”

As Tikki finished the last of her cookies, she flew over the room and landed on Marinette’s shoulder, patting it gently. “Well, you could have phrased it better,” she admitted. “But at least you were honest with him, and didn’t give him false hope.”

“Great,” her charge replied, self-deprecating sarcasm heavy in her voice. “At least I got _something_ right.”

Tikki hugged her reassuringly. “Don’t worry too much about Chat. He’s a tough kitty. It’ll probably take a while before he’s back to his cheerful old self, but he’ll be okay in the end.”

“I hope so.” Marinette sighed. “I still feel bad, though. I could have handled the whole situation better, but I honestly didn’t see it coming. Any of it,” she folded her arms, then frowned. “How did I not see it coming? He said he’s been in love with me for two years. I mean, I see the signs _now_ , but…” her voice trailed off.

“Don’t feel bad about it,” said Tikki. “You had the right not to notice. After all, Adrien still hasn’t figured out you have a crush on him, right?”

Marinette nodded hesitantly, acknowledging her kwami’s point.

“And if you feel guilty, you can always try to make things right between you two the next time you see each other,” Tikki noted.

“Right before Chat ran away…” Marinette dropped her head again. “I just wanted to tell him how important he was to me, even if it was just in a platonic way.”

“You can still tell him that the next time you see each other.”

“Don’t worry, I will,” Marinette decided, a glint of determination in her eyes. “Thanks, Tikki. I don’t know what I’d do without you.” She wrapped the small creature in a warm hug, already feeling a bit better.

Tikki giggled. “You’re welcome. Now go get some sleep. Tomorrow is an important day for you.”

* * *

Adrien had no Camembert on his person, so when his taxi finally reached the Agreste residence, he had to slip in through the back door. Luckily, his father’s private chef, Monsieur Alicio Berger, was working late hours that night, preparing food for an important business dinner. This meant that the kitchen door was still open. (Even though Monsieur Berger raised an eyebrow at the sight of his employer’s son coming back home thoroughly drenched so late in the night, he didn’t comment on it. Adrien was grateful.)

As soon as the boy entered his room, he let Plagg out of his coat, then took it off and flung it across a chair. With a sigh, he lay down on his bed, staring at the ceiling and trying to collect his thoughts.

No matter how hard he tried to calm down, the chorus of _I don’t really like you that way_ kept on replaying in his head, driving him insane. Every time he closed his eyes, he could see the expression his Lady – _no, not my Lady_ , Adrien scolded himself, _she doesn’t want to be with me, she’s made that clear tonight_ – bore on her face when he confessed to her. She seemed confused at first, but her confusion soon gave way to a look of absolute terror. She was terrified because of what he told her.

Desperate to stop that train of thought, Adrien sat up and scanned his room in search of something to occupy himself with.

A sudden _ping_ startled him. Distracted as he was, it took him a few seconds to realize that he’d just got a text message. He took out his phone from his jeans pocket to read it.

**Nino:** _hey dude ! how did it go with that gal pal of yours ? did u tell her ?_

_Oh, right_ , Adrien thought. Nino had noticed that his friend had been somewhat absent-minded the entire week, so he’d admitted yesterday that he had been planning to confess to his crush. Of course, he couldn’t exactly tell Nino that the girl he was in love with was Ladybug. Adrien the civilian certainly wasn’t in any position to date a superheroine. Instead, he’d told Nino that the girl was a friend he worked with – technically true – and that she probably wouldn’t appreciate his revealing too much information about her to other people – also true.

Still, Nino was supportive as ever, and he didn’t press for details Adrien wasn’t willing to share. And although Adrien couldn’t be as honest with his friend as he’d like because of the whole secret identity business, he still felt that he owed it to Nino to tell him the outcome of his confession – even if he didn’t feel like talking about it.

Reluctantly, he typed out a quick reply.

**Adrien:** _I told her tonight. She doesn’t want to be with me. She told me she likes someone else. I don’t really want to talk about it._

He pressed _Send_ , trying to ignore the sudden pain in his chest as he read the _she likes someone else_ part of his message again. Somehow, seeing it in writing made him feel even more depressed. It gave a sense of finality.

He expected Nino to write back, so he nearly jumped in surprise when he heard his ringtone. He looked at the caller ID in disbelief. _He’s calling me. From Barcelona_ , Adrien realized. _And in the middle of the night, too. He must be worried._

With a sigh, he picked up the phone.

“Hi, Nino,” he said weakly.

“Dude.” Nino’s voice sounded weird, as he hadn’t heard it for a few weeks. “Don’t do this to me. Don’t you dare write something like this and then refuse to talk about it.”

“I’m fine, Nino,” Adrien tried to assure him, but his voice cracked up halfway through.

“Yeah, right. I can hear that.” Nino snorted. “How did this even happen?” He wanted to say something else, but Adrien caught him off.

“Seriously, I’m fine. Well, I’m not fine right now, but I will be. I just… don’t want to talk about it right now.”

Nino sighed.

“Alright, dude, I understand. I won’t press you. Just remember that I’ll be there for you whenever you need anything, alright? If you want to talk, or…”

Adrien tried to hold himself together. He really did. But hearing the honest concern in his friend’s voice, he felt himself completely lose his composure. Tears welled up in his eyes again.

“I… I don’t know what to do…” he sobbed. “I mean… I wanted to tell her for so long… And I… she… I don’t…”

“Dude, calm down,” Nino said. “Listen, I’m on my way to the airport right now. We’ll all be back in Paris tomorrow morning, so we’ll see each other at school tomorrow. We can talk about it then, alright?”

Adrien nodded absent-mindedly, then realized that his friend couldn’t see him.

“Alright. Yes. Okay.”

“Didn’t you mention that you had a free afternoon tomorrow?”

“Yes, I did. I do.” The model felt a dull pain in his chest again. That was one of the reasons he had chosen this particular night to meet up with Ladybug. If she had accepted, he would have asked her out on a date the following afternoon.

“Perfect!” Nino’s enthusiasm surprised Adrien. “We’ll do all the stuff friends are supposed to do after a heartbreak. We’ll go to the movies, have all the ice cream we can eat...”

“Nino, you know my dietician wouldn’t like that.”

“Dude, who cares? Was your dietician rejected by his crush?”

Adrien actually let out a chuckle at that.

“I guess not.”

“Well then, what do you say? Yay or nay?”

Adrien thought about it for a moment. He didn’t really have anything else to do tomorrow – his date plans obviously went out of the window, and homework shouldn’t be an issue on the very first day of school.

“I think I’d like that.”

“Great! We’ll see each other tomorrow.”

Adrien actually felt better after the phone call, but it didn’t last long. Once he turned the lights off and lay down in his bed, his thoughts came back to Ladybug’s words and the expression of fear on her face as he told her he loved her.

His gaze fell upon the Ladybug poster in the corner of the room. He shifted uncomfortably as his partner’s eyes seemed to bore into him. He stood up, tore the poster down and folded it in two. He wanted to throw it into the bin below his desk, but somehow, he couldn’t bring himself to do it. Instead, he tucked it into his desk’s drawer, then went back to bed.

He lay there for a few more hours, still awake, thinking about all that could have been and would now never be, until he finally gave in to the merciful embrace of exhaustion. Thankfully, his night was dreamless.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> When did this fic become so angsty? I solemnly swear that the next chapter will be more optimistic.
> 
> Next up: Marinette decides to help out a friend in need.


	3. That's What Friends Are For

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Flights get diverted, friends get concerned and Marinette keeps thinking back to the day in the rain.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Contrary to popular belief, I am still alive.
> 
> Wow. I haven't posted for a while. Studying for exams turned out to be more time-consuming than I expected. Still, it's winter break right now, so I've got more free time on my hands. And to make up for the lost time, the third chapter is 1.5 times as long as the second one. So there's that.
> 
> Also, happy St Valentine's Day!

The rain didn’t stop that night. It grew in force, turning into a real deluge sometime before one in the morning. Those who were still up so late in the night were a bit surprised at the development – after all, weather forecasts had only mentioned passing showers. However, they mostly shrugged it off and decided that it would all end in a few minutes at most.

That is, until lightning joined in.

The thunderstorm would later be called one of the worst to hit Paris in the 2010s. It would cause a problem with power supply in a distant part of Parisian suburbs. It would spout a media debate about insufficient funds for natural disaster prediction and response, which would be one of the key points raised by Armand d’Argencourt in his next election campaign, much to the chagrin of André Bourgeois.

Perhaps more importantly for some, the storm would also affect air traffic.

* * *

By seven o’clock in the morning, the storm had mostly died down. It was still raining, but it was nowhere near the downpour that troubled the city at night, and the thunders were all but gone. Still, going outside without a raincoat and an umbrella would definitely be an unpleasant experience, even for someone living as close to school as Marinette.

Which presented the part-time superheroine with a dilemma.

Marinette surveyed her options. On one side of her chaise longue lay a pink-and-white polka-dotted umbrella. It had served her well for many years, but its days of glory were far behind it. It leaked in a few places, and while Marinette had tried to sew up the holes, it still might not last through the rain in one piece.

On the other side of her chaise lay the black Umbrella. The one a certain green-eyed blond had given her two years ago, on his second day of collège, after she’d accused him of putting chewing gum on her seat. The one from the boy whose kindness and selflessness had captured her heart and never ceased to amaze her, even to this day.

She never mentioned what happened that day in the rain to anyone. Of course, Tikki knew the story – after all, she was there – but apart from the little kwami, no one else did, not even Alya. The memory felt private, almost intimate, and the girl didn’t know if that made sense, but she felt like she might tarnish it were she to repeat it to anyone.

That may have been one of the reasons she was so reluctant to go out with Adrien’s umbrella right now.

The reasonable part of her, the one which helped her through her duties as both Ladybug and class representative, told her she was being silly. The black umbrella was the obvious choice for the weather, no matter if she got it from Adrien or not.

But still…

“Marinette!” Her mother’s voice startled her. “You’ll be late for school!”

“I’m coming!” Marinette replied quickly, grabbing the black umbrella before she could change her mind. She headed down the stairs, stopping halfway through to double check if she packed everything she needed: her textbooks, a notebook, her Chemistry homework and several chocolate chip cookies for Tik-

“Tikki!” she cried in horror, quickly doubling back up the stairs.

One reprimand from her kwami and an awkward apology later, Marinette left the bakery, wondering what the day had in store for her. She checked her phone and realized with a start that she would actually be in school a little early. _Well, that’s a first_ , she thought.

She crossed the street and turned around the corner to see Alya already waiting in front of the school, a red Ladybug-themed umbrella in hand.

“Well, well, well. Look who’s actually on time for once,” Alya said by way of greeting.

“Don’t get used to it,” Marinette replied.

They both giggled and hugged awkwardly, the two umbrellas getting in the way.

“So, how was Rome?” Marinette asked at last when they separated.

“It was wonderful!” Alya’s eyes sparkled with excitement. “The Roman Forum was really impressive. And I had no idea the Colosseum was so huge! I mean, it looks much smaller in the pictures. Speaking of pictures, I have so many great shots to show you later! Oh, and did you know that Ladybug was active in Rome in the time of the gladiators?”

“Oh. Really?” replied Marinette with genuine interest. She’d have to ask Tikki about this later.

“That’s right, and I’ve got proof!” Alya declared proudly, taking her smartphone out of her jeans pocket and wiggling it in her hand. “This totally goes on my blog once I have the time to edit it properly.”

“I’m glad you liked it there.” Marinette smiled.

“Well, it was fun, I admit. Still, I’m glad to be back. I missed my friend, you know?” Alya poked Marinette’s side with her elbow affectionately.

“Is that so?” Marinette said in mock surprise. “Well, I’m sure your friend missed you more.”

Alya laughed. “Want to get inside before we’re completely drenched?” she said, pointing to the school entrance.

The two girls folded their umbrellas and headed down the hall to their new classroom, waving to a few friendly faces they passed on the way.

“So, I’ve told you about my holiday trip,” the redhead started. “What about you?”

“Huh?” Marinette looked at her friend quizzically.

“Do you have any travel stories you want to share?”

“Oh.” Marinette finally understood. “Nope, not me. I stayed in Paris the whole summer.”

“I don’t really get you, girl.” Alya shook her head. “Didn’t your grandma invite you to visit her in Italy? And I know for a fact that your parents attended the International Bakers’ Fair in Munich.”

“She did and they did. But you know me, I love Paris too much to leave it, even for a few days.” Marinette forced a laugh. _At least while Hawkmoth is still a threat_ , she finished silently.

In truth, the bluenette used to enjoy travelling quite a lot – at least until that time last year when she went to Rennes to visit her cousin and got back two days later to see Paris completely covered in snow and ice in the middle of June and Chat Noir just barely holding his own against an akuma calling himself Whiteout. Ever since then, she tried to avoid leaving the city if possible. She just hoped she and Chat would be able to find and defeat Hawkmoth before university, just in case either of them decided to study away from Paris.

_Speaking of Chat_ , Marinette thought, _I wonder how he is after yesterday._ She cringed as the memories of last night came to her again. She should have handled the situation better. _I really need to apologize to him. I hope we’ll see each other soon. Although… we mostly see each other during akuma attacks, so maybe not_ that _soon?_

“Girl, are you even listening to me? Marinette!”

“What? Oh, sorry.” Marinette shook her head, forcing herself to stop thinking about Chat for now. “I was lost in thought. What were you saying?”

Alya only snickered, which left Marinette even more puzzled.

“What’s so funny?”

“I was just asking you if you were looking forward to seeing Adrien again,” the girl replied smugly. “But, of course, it seems you’ve got Sunshine Child on your mind already.” She wiggled her eyebrows.

“Alya!” Marinette cried in disbelief.

“Come to think of it, maybe you only stayed in Paris so that you could spend more time with him.”

“Please stop. I haven’t seen him _once_ over the summer.”

“That’s a pity. Fifty-five missed opportunities to talk to him.”

“Alya, please- Wait, did you say fifty-five? As in _every day of the summer holidays?_ ”

“That’s right. Didn’t you know he stayed in Paris?” Alya asked, evidently surprised to find out that she knew more about Adrien’s summer schedule than Marinette did.

“But that makes no sense!” protested Marinette. “I mean, I know Gabriel Agreste prefers to spend holidays at home, but what about New York Fashion Week? Mr. Agreste was there, I saw the live stream on the Internet. I thought he took Adrien with him!”

“He was going to, but apparently Adrien fell sick for the whole week and stayed in Paris to get better.”

“Wow, poor Adrien,” Marinette sighed. “Wait, how do you even know all this?” She questioned.

Alya raised her eyebrows and wiggled her phone again. “Nino told me.”

“Oh. Right.” Marinette smiled sheepishly.

As of last April, Alya and Nino were officially dating. It came as a surprise to no one at all – the two had always been on good terms, especially since what Mrs. Bustier’s class dubbed “the zoo incident”, and they had been spending more and more time together ever since last February, when Nino offered to help Alya with audio editing for the Ladyblog. Still, it took them a lot of time to finally get together – mostly because of the fact that, to Adrien and Marinette’s horror, each of them refused to acknowledge that the other one clearly had feelings for them.

Luckily, that stage was far past them, and their relationship was stronger than ever. And even though they didn’t see each other a lot over the holidays – both of them already had plans with their families – they kept in contact, calling or texting each other whenever possible, glad to be able to talk about everything that was on their minds.

Marinette was happy for them, even if it left Alya with less time to talk to her BFF.

The girls entered their new classroom, which was on the other side of the hall than last year, and Marinette was startled to see how few of her classmates were present. She spotted Rose in the corner, waving her arms animatedly as she described to Juleka the wonders of Nice. There was Alix and Kim, already bickering about something as Alix took her seat in the middle row. And of course, in the very back of the classroom sat Nathaniel, silently drawing in his sketchbook. Only five people – well, seven including her and Alya. Then again, maybe it was to be expected. With the weather as harsh as it was today, traffic jams were unavoidable, and not everyone lived as close to school as Marinette did.

Speaking of…

“How come Nino isn’t here?” Marinette frowned. “I thought he lived closer to school than you do.”

Alya grimaced. “Yeah, about that…”

But before she could continue, she was interrupted by Marinette’s involuntary gasp as Adrien entered the classroom.

Adrien looked terrible. There was no sugar-coating it. He looked as if he hadn’t slept for a week. He had bags under his eyes, and although he had clearly tried to hide it using a concealer, it wasn’t very effective up close. However, even if she hadn’t seen through the makeup, Marinette would still be able to tell that something was wrong. Adrien was slouching, as if too tired or too depressed to walk upright, and when he smiled to greet them, it wasn’t the bright, radiant smile he usually gave his friends. It was his model smile – the one Marinette knew very well, as it had been present on countless magazine covers currently hanging on her bedroom wall.

At the end of the last school year, when Alya and Nino started to date and the four of them started to hang out together more often, Alya had taken to calling Adrien _Sunshine Child_ due to his cheerfulness and the childlike enthusiasm he showed when spending time with his friends. Right now, he looked more like an Ecliptic Middle-ager.

Marinette wanted to ask him what was wrong, but she wondered if she should do it right away. After all, he did try his best to hide that anything was wrong in the first place, so maybe she shouldn’t call him out on it in the middle of the classroom. Perhaps it would be best to wait until after school, when the three of them were alone.

Clearly, Alya had no such qualms.

“Adrien? What the heck happened to you?” She demanded.

“Hi, Alya. Hi, Marinette,” the boy responded weakly, avoiding their eyes. “I’m fine, don’t worry about me.”

“You’re kidding, right?” Alya glared at him incredulously. “Adrien, you have bags under your eyes.”

“What? Oh, I just… didn’t get much sleep last night.” He took his place in the front row and rummaged through his school bag, looking for his notebook.

“A late night photoshoot?” Marinette offered. She thought that wasn’t very likely, but perhaps they were all just misreading the situation.

Adrien shook his head. “No, just some… personal matters. Nothing to worry about.”

“Is it your father?” Alya inquired.

“Not this time.” The model rubbed the back of his head nervously. “I’d rather not talk about it, to be honest. I see Nino is running late?”

Alya looked at him sadly. “Adrien… Nino won’t be at school today.”

Adrien blinked a few times. “What do you mean?”

“His airplane got redirected due to the storm. The last I heard, he’s in Rennes, waiting for a replacement bus.”

The blond looked her in the eyes for the first time this day, as if to make sure she wasn’t kidding. He opened his mouth as if to say something, then closed it again as no words came to mind.

“He texted me an hour ago,” Alya continued. “I figured he would send you a text too.”

Adrien took his phone out of his pocket only to see that it was clearly turned off. With a start, he realized that in all the commotion, he had forgotten to recharge his phone last night. He planted his head on his desk. “I can’t believe it! Nathalie’s gonna kill me.”

“It can’t be that bad,” Marinette protested, hesitantly putting a hand on his shoulder.

“No, she’ll have me beheaded,” he said, his voice muffled by the desk. “Or worse, she’ll take me out of school.” He raised his head again. “This week is getting better and better.”

His gaze went back to Alya and he looked like he was going to say something, but Mrs. Bustier picked that moment to enter the classroom. Shooting him an apologetic look, Alya took Marinette by the arm and sat down with her in the second row as the rest of the class settled down.

* * *

The first day of school was rather uneventful. Most teachers decided to use the first period of their respective subjects in the new school year to explain the new grading criteria, outline their planned activities or encourage them to study regularly for the upcoming exit exams. Ms. Mendeleiev was an exception, as she started off by checking if everyone had finished the exercises she had given them for the summer holidays. Luckily, most of the students came prepared, although several admitted that they had been putting it off until yesterday. (Thanks to Nathalie’s obsession with scheduling, Adrien had finished them all over the first three days of summer, in between photoshoots and piano lessons.)

Naturally, Ms. Mendeleiev displayed her satisfaction by announcing that there would be a revision test on Acids and Bases next Monday.

Finally, at three p.m., the last bell rang and the students started to head home.

“I still can’t believe she actually assigned us homework for the summer,” Marinette complained.

“I know, right?” Alya grimaced. “I wonder if that’s even legal.”

As they left the school building, they were glad to see that the rain had finally stopped.

“Do you want to come over for a croissant?” Marinette offered her friend.

“Sorry, I can’t,” Alya took out her phone to check the time. “I have to pick up my sisters from school in, like, ten minutes. My mom’s busy preparing some fancy business dinner at the hotel.”

“Oh. Maybe tomorrow, then?” asked Marinette.

“Tomorrow it is, girl.” Alya pointed at her with finger guns, a gesture she’d recently picked up from Nino. They both giggled and Alya rushed off towards the nearest bus stop.

Marinette decided to head home as well when suddenly, a familiar voice from behind her startled her.

“Wait!” she heard Adrien call out as he ran out of the school, panting slightly.

Marinette turned back to face him. “A-Adrien.” _Great, I’m stuttering again._

“Could I please borrow your phone for a minute?” he asked, rubbing the back of his neck nervously. He’d been doing that a lot today, she realized. “I need to call Nino.”

“Oh, right,” she replied. “Hang on.” She took her phone out of her purse, made sure that her wallpaper wasn’t anything hopelessly embarrassing (luckily, it was just a selfie she took with Alya right before the summer holidays) and passed her phone to Adrien. He smiled at her gratefully – still his model smile though, she noticed – and called his friend.

* * *

“Marinette?” Nino asked as soon as he picked up.

“Hey, Nino,” Adrien greeted him. “Actually, it’s Adrien.”

“Dude, good to hear from you.” Nino sounded almost relieved. “Why didn’t you text me back? I was worried sick.”

“I forgot to charge my phone last night. I’m sorry.”

“Don’t sweat it, bro, I get it, you had other things on your mind,” Nino assured him. “Actually, I’m the one who should be apologizing. The replacement bus only got here, like, half an hour ago, so I won’t be in Paris for the next four hours.”

“It arrived half an hour ago?” Adrien asked, bewildered.

“Man, I’m telling you, this is the worst plane flight in the history of plane flights,” Nino complained. “First off, we were supposed to land in Paris at night, but because of the storm, we instead we circled around the city for two hours until they finally decided to divert the plane to Rennes due to lack of fuel.” He grunted. “Later, it turned out that our luggage was on a different plane which actually managed to land in Paris shortly before the storm started. And then, it turned out that the regular replacement bus service was run by a company which just announced their bankruptcy earlier that week, so we had to wait while the airline staff negotiated a one-time deal with another transport service.”

“Okay, wow,” Adrien said in horrid wonder. “That sounds terrible.”

“It’s the last time we’ll ever choose Oceanic Airlines, that’s for sure,” Nino agreed. “Anyway, sorry, dude, but it seems like we won’t be spending the afternoon together after all. Are you free tomorrow?”

“No,” Adrien sighed. “I have a photoshoot after school, and then a Chinese lesson.”

“Already?” It was Nino’s turn to sound bewildered. “Man, is your schedule cramped. Well, we’ll think off something once I’m in Paris. For now, take good care of yourself, alright?”

“Thanks, Nino,” Adrien replied. “See you tomorrow.”

* * *

“Thank again, Marinette,” Adrien said, handing the phone back to its owner.

“Don’t mention it,” she replied. “Sounds like Nino had a rough time, huh?”

“Like you wouldn’t believe.” Adrien sat down on the cold stairs leading to the school entrance and sighed. After a moment’s hesitation, Marinette sat down beside him.

“What’s wrong, Adrien?” she asked tenderly.

“Nothing,” he replied. “I just… I guess I wanted to see Nino.”

That wasn’t the whole truth, and Marinette could see it. It really hurt her to see Adrien like this, clearly hurting but stubbornly refusing to talk to anyone about it. She wanted to help him, but she couldn’t unless he told her what was wrong in the first place. _Darn Gabriel Agreste and his stiff-upper-lip upbringing._

“Are you sure that’s all there is?” she continued gently. “Because you already seemed distracted in the morning. And I’m sure that Alya misses her boyfriend too, but she’s much more relaxed about it.” Hesitantly, she put a hand over his. “You know you can always talk to me, right? We’re friends.”

“We are?” Adrien blurted out, sounding surprised.

Marinette looked at him in disbelief, somewhat offended. He quickly shot his hands up in the air, realizing his mistake. “Sorry. I didn’t mean it that way. I just…” He sighed. “In my first year in collège, you seemed to avoid me for some reason.” He looked down at his palms. “I figured you’re still mad at me because of… the gum incident or something.”

Marinette stared at him incredulously. _He took my stuttering and shyness to mean that I…? No way._

“What about last year? We’ve been hanging out with Alya and Nino practically all the time,” she pointed out.

“Well…” There goes the neck-rubbing again. “It’s true, but whenever they left for some reason or another, you seemed really uncomfortable. To tell you the truth, half the time I thought you were just tolerating me because of Alya.”

Marinette wasn’t sure how to react. Her crush just announced that he thought she didn’t like him, and she had only her own shyness to blame. She was furious. She hid her face in her hands and let out a frustrated cry.

“I’m sorry.” Adrien said quickly. “I didn’t mean...”

“No, Adrien, I’m not mad at you.” Marinette interjected. “I’m mad at myself.” She raised her head to look him in the eyes. “I’ve been a horrible friend, haven’t I?”

“No, not at all,” Adrien protested.

“Don’t.” Marinette told him firmly. He deserved better than this. For two years now, she’d been treating him like the image of perfection instead of looking at him like an actual person, and it led to her stuttering, flailing her arms wildly or looking away whenever they talked together. She could see now where he got mixed up.

“Adrien,” she continued slowly and steadily, “I need you to understand that even though I don’t always show it the way I’m supposed to, I really care about you. You’re a wonderful person, and” – _and I should probably stop there unless I want a repeat of what happened yesterday_ – “and I’m glad to be able to call you my friend.”

Adrien looked at her gratefully, and before she realized what was going on, he threw his arms around her. “Thank you,” he said silently, his voice cracking with emotion. After a moment’s hesitation, Marinette returned the hug. She took it better than she thought she would. _Still, it’s best not to overdo it._ Reluctantly, she pulled away.

“So,” she continued, a little surprised to see that her voice was still steady. “Would you _please_ tell me what’s going on?”

Adrien hesitated. “Are you sure you want to listen? Because I wouldn’t want to burden you.”

Marinette just looked at him in disbelief.

_Listening to you could never be a burden_ , she wanted to say.

_You deserve a lot more than I can ever give to you_ , she wanted to say.

_I want to listen to all of your troubles and all of your joys for as long as it takes to know you like the back of my hand_ , she wanted to say.

But instead, she found herself saying, “Well, the Chemistry test’s not until Monday, so I’ve got _a little_ time.”

Adrien snorted, and just for a moment, Marinette could see a glimpse of his usual cheerful smile. But soon, it melted away as Adrien looked at his hands, rubbing his silver ring nervously.

“There’s this… girl I work with,” he began.

Oh.

_Oh._

_Well, let’s not jump to conclusions here, Marinette_ , she scolded herself. _Maybe he’s just talking about a friend._

“I’ve been in love with her for a really long time.”

_Okay, scratch that, you can panic._

“For the last two years, in fact.”

Marinette felt something break inside of her. Two years. That meant that she had never had a chance to begin with. But she forced herself not to think about it too much, instead focusing on maintaining an encouraging smile.

“I’ve told her how I feel yesterday, and she rejected me,” Adrien continued, his voice cracking again. Marinette squeezed his hand impulsively, only now realizing that she’d been holding it in the first place. “She told me she likes someone else.”

_He’s smart and kind and considerate. And you… you are…_ The chorus went through his head again, but he forced it out, instead focusing on Marinette’s calming smile.

“What hurt the most was the look on her face when I told her I liked her. It was like… she was terrified at the thought of…” he trailed off as tears started to run down his face. Marinette looked at him without a word, sensing that it would be wrong to break the silence. Instead, she trailed small circles on the back of his hand with her thumb as her mom used to when she was little.

After a few minutes, when he managed to somewhat regain his composure, he continued. “I guess I just wanted to see Nino to keep my mind off of this. And now…” he trailed off again, but Marinette already had a good idea what the problem was.

_Nino’s still on his way to Paris and Alya’s busy looking after her sisters_ , she thought. _His father is hardly the best person to go to for emotional support, and Chloé…_ She shuddered as she tried to imagine a compassionate Chloé. _He’s got no one to go to_ , she realized. _What’s waiting for him is an empty room in the Agreste mansion and a lonely afternoon the day after what sounds like a really harsh turndown._

She was suddenly reminded of Chat and another pang of guilt struck her as she thought about her partner. Did he take the let down as bad as Adrien did? Was he currently sitting somewhere in Paris, telling the story to his closest friends as they tried to comfort him? She hoped that her partner at least had someone to turn to.

“I’m really sorry for you, Adrien,” Marinette said silently. “You didn’t deserve that.”

Adrien raised his head to look at her, a spark of gratitude clear in his eyes.

_Adrien really needs a friend right now_ , she realized.

Silently, she reached a decision.

“What did you plan to do with Nino?” she asked, her shoulders squared in determination.

Adrien blinked, surprised at her sudden change of tone.

“Well, we were going to see a movie, and then have some ice cream,” he said, looking at her quizzically.

“Ah, yes, the Heartbreak Special,” Marinette noted. 

_There’s nothing I can do for Chat right now_ , she thought. _But I_ can _help Adrien. Perhaps I can make up for my mistakes in that way._

She got up and smoothed out her pants.

_Besides, I’m apparently two years behind on being a good friend._

“Well, then, what are you waiting for?” she asked. “I heard the movie theater is closed down early on Mondays.”

Adrien opened his eyes wide in surprise. He got up awkwardly. “M-Marinette…” he stuttered. “You really don’t have to…”

“Nonsense,” she interrupted him. “I can see you really need a good friend right now, and if Nino couldn’t be here, then I’m willing to take his place for today.” She lowered her head, the reality of the situation catching up to her at last. “That is, i-if you w-want to,” she stuttered.

Adrien stared at her, not knowing what to say.

“I’d be glad to,” he finally got out. He sent her a grateful smile, and she realized that it was his first genuine smile that day.

“That’s what friends are for, right?” she said.

They would probably have stood there in silence for several minutes afterwards, were it not for the sudden honk of a car horn which startled them.

“That’s my driver,” Adrien noticed. “I… I should probably go home and recharge my phone so that Nathalie doesn’t actually behead me,” he realized. _And stock up on Camembert_ , he added silently.

Marinette smiled. “That’s alright. I need to do something at home first, anyway.” _Get more cookies for Tikki._

“Want to meet in front of the movie theatre in an hour?” he asked.

“Sounds good to me,” she replied.

She waved to him as he got inside the car and greeted his driver, then watched as the limousine drove away towards the Agreste mansion. Only when she lost sight of the vehicle did she start heading towards the bakery.

On her way home, it started to rain again, so she unfolded her black umbrella. As she walked around the corner and crossed the street, she thought back to Adrien’s first day of collège. She was struck by how similar that day was to this afternoon, with unpredicted rainfall and unexpected acts of friendship. She was glad to be able to show to Adrien the same kindness he had shown to her.

Marinette fell in love with the boy two years ago and she was still very much in love with him. However, Adrien didn’t need a love interest or an admirer in his life right now. _What he needs is a friend_ , she thought, _and I’m willing to be there for him._

_On that note, I should probably get rid of the magazine covers._

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Adrien's been sappy for the last two chapters, so now it's time for Marinette to go a little overboard, don't you think?
> 
> Anyway, I've realized some time ago that Marinette doing her Chemistry homework at the end of August seems a little suspicious, but I figured that with Ms. Mendeleiev as their teacher, it doesn't necessarily have to be a continuity error, so I've decided to fully embrace it.
> 
> Also, how much do you want to bet that Adrien wasn't actually sick during New York Fashion Week? ;)
> 
> Next up: no movie outing is complete without an Akuma attack.


End file.
